Morale and Motivation in the Workplace
How Motivation and Morale Affects Productivity in the Workplace
Coming from a military background morale and motivation were 2 key words that were ingrained in my head day after day while in serving in the armed forces. The command and control leadership style used fear of punishment for not performing your job vs. awards and recognition for doing it right. Even though my leadership always talked about change and ways to improve, morale and motivation were always issues. Organizations have goals whether it be the countries defense or to grow and make profit for its owners and shareholders. However none of these goals can be achieved by ordering people to do what we want. In the military this approach might have worked for short term goals, but over time it can destroy morale and stifle motivation in the workplace. Experience has shown that helping people realize their full potential can lead to attaining goals that would be impossible to reach under a command and control leadership style. Recent surveys have found that employee motivation is sagging throughout the world and morale has fallen at almost half of all companies (Quast, 2011). In order to successfully motivate your workforce you must first focus on overall morale.
Morale can be defined as an attitude or emotional state of a person or a group of people (Lee, 2004). When you have low morale you come to work thinking your job is boring and monotonous. Your behavior directly affects your productivity and indirectly affects your peers as well. When your morale is high you come to work on time, your productivity is high, and motivated easily to boost production for your department and your business.
There are a lot of successful ways to boost morale. One of my previous employers used to provide free sodas, candy, tea, and coffee in all the break rooms. Even though this was something minor it made the employees feel like they were liked and respected and each day we started work in a
Coming from a military background morale and motivation were 2 key words that were ingrained in my head day after day while in serving in the armed forces. The command and control leadership style used fear of punishment for not performing your job vs. awards and recognition for doing it right. Even though my leadership always talked about change and ways to improve, morale and motivation were always issues. Organizations have goals whether it be the countries defense or to grow and make profit for its owners and shareholders. However none of these goals can be achieved by ordering people to do what we want. In the military this approach might have worked for short term goals, but over time it can destroy morale and stifle motivation in the workplace. Experience has shown that helping people realize their full potential can lead to attaining goals that would be impossible to reach under a command and control leadership style. Recent surveys have found that employee motivation is sagging throughout the world and morale has fallen at almost half of all companies (Quast, 2011). In order to successfully motivate your workforce you must first focus on overall morale.
Morale can be defined as an attitude or emotional state of a person or a group of people (Lee, 2004). When you have low morale you come to work thinking your job is boring and monotonous. Your behavior directly affects your productivity and indirectly affects your peers as well. When your morale is high you come to work on time, your productivity is high, and motivated easily to boost production for your department and your business.
There are a lot of successful ways to boost morale. One of my previous employers used to provide free sodas, candy, tea, and coffee in all the break rooms. Even though this was something minor it made the employees feel like they were liked and respected and each day we started work in a
References: Hartog Lea. (2008, April 28). 15 Ways to boost employee morale. Retrieved from http://www.hrworld.com/features/15-ways-boost-employee-morale/ Inc, Staff (2010, APRIL 20). 7 Tips for motivating employees. Retrieved from http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/04/tips-for-motivating-employees.html Lee David. (2004, April 26). 8 Ways managers can improve morale. Retrieved from http://www.humannatureatwork.com/employee-morale-article-3-partII.htm Robbins, S., & Judge, T. (2010). Motivation: From concepts to applications. In Essentials of Organizational Behavior (pp. 80-95). Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall. Spreitzer, G. & Porath, C. (2012, January 1). Creating sustainable performance. Harvard Business Review, 90(1/2), 92-99. Quast Lisa. (2011, March 07). The best ways to motivate people (and it isn 't with money). Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/lisaquast/2011/03/07/the-best-ways-to-motivate-people-and-it-isnt-with-money/